Cricket coaches, from schoolboys to the Centre of Excellence, need to rethink their ideas and throw out the Alf Gover Coaching manual.
Since the advent and subsequent proliferation of One Day Cricket, in the late seventies, Australia and England have been slow to change. The first World Cups were won by the West Indies.
Naturally gifted athletes all and not over coached. Think Fredericks, Camacho, Cammie Smith and then Viv Richards, Lloyd, Greenidge and Haynes.
India won in 1983 with Srikanth at the top and Kapil in the lower middle order. Lots of bits and pieces players.
Australia won in 1987, with Steve Waugh and Dean Jones being influential.
Imran Khan got Pakistan up in 1992 and Sanath Jayasuriya and Kalu changed all conventional thinking with their kamakazi assaults in 1996.
Suddenly the first fifteen overs were producing a run a ball.
Australia caught up and won the last three. Now they have to play catchup again and think differently. It’s no longer hit and giggle. It’s serious money and there is no doubt that some like Ponting and Clarke can adjust.
Selectors have to look at the Pomerbachs and the Ronchis.
D’ Costa, who coached Michael Clarke, has coached Philip Hughes in an entirely different manner. Philip Hughes has a penchant for cutting over the top and is not afraid to slog sweep when in the nineties.
Philip Hughes has been coached to play all three forms of the game. More coaches will increasingly follow D’Costa’s blueprint.
Properly handled, Twenty20 can energise the longer versions and, more importantly, sustain them. It is an increasingly fast paced world and the paying punters will demand and get what they want.
It is irrelevant that traditionalists decry this new kid on the block. I was one that rubbished the Pyjama Game. I am optimistic that there will be a balance in the future.
For now, the numbers favour Twenty20. Players like Kallis, Ponting, Clarke and Smith all want to be part of this new game and its attendant rewards.
More power to them because for far too long cricketers were paid slave wages.
Finally, the administrators will take heed and enforce 90 overs in a day. If the Tests are attractive, the fans will attend. The last six Tests between Australia and South Africa produced entertaining and riveting cricket.
There is a new generation waiting to make its mark.
I would not write cricket’s epitaph just yet. All three forms will feed off each other and could all emerge attractive and viable.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
After posting 92 with the bat, the RCB star was having an equally brilliant day in the field.
The RCB opener posted a man-of-the-match 92 off 47, as his side defeated Punjab Kings by 60 runs.
The opener scored a man-of-the-match 89 off 30, in the 10-wicket win against Lucknow Super Giants that came off just 9.4 overs.
Nathan Lyon believes Australia would have won the 2023 Ashes series 4-0 if he hadn't broken down with injury. But the veteran spinner says…
The recent announcement of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad took me back to the 1983 ODI World Cup campaign - one of our great…
